Hi,  I can't seem to figure out the best way to center the warp.  The videos I watch show how to start  on one edge of the project and thread the warp to the other end.  I always end up with more leftover reed on one side than the other.   Should I take the measurement of the project in reed and divide it in half to know where the center will be and count from there to the edge for starting?  Or should I take a tape measure to find the center of the project and use the tape to measure out to the edge of the project?

Does this even make sense??  Bottom line:  how do I measure accurately to find the starting place for the project?

Thanks in advance for your help-- again!  Audrey

 

Comments

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 16:35

theresasc

All my reeds have a string tied on the center dent.  When I get to the point of sleying, I divide the width in reed by half, measure from my center point to the right, and start sleying at the right side of the reed.  I am right-handed, so I sley from right to left.  When I put the reed in the beater, I center that as well.  Some of my reeds are shorter than the beater.

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 17:17

jander14indoor (not verified)

I put a light colored piece of masking tape on my reed at the bar on bottom front.  I mark the center and then put inch marks out from there, but they are marked for the full width to each side.  In other words, the 1 inch mark out from center is labeled 2 inches since that will be the full piece width.

Then when I go to sley the reed, I just read the width off the reed directly go find the starting point.

An easy alternative if you end up uneven in spite of best efforts slide the reed to center the warp.  You should be able to do this on most floor looms without much trouble.

 

Jeff Anderson

Livonia, MI

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 20:56

mneligh

I also mark my reed with a marker or string, and my heddles with string.  I thread and sley from the center out on my Baby Wolf.  Some people hate this method because you read in opposite directions from your threading diagram.  Threading an 8 shaft is reatively easy, and I want all heddles uniformly distributed across the width, even if they're not being used.  On this loom I haven't gone crazy moving heddles from shaft to shaft, and I warp it front to back.

On my Macomber, I thread first, left to right.  I move heddles a lot on this one.  Threading can be more complex -- 20 shafts, sometimes with no repeats -- so I have to check off each tread as I go.  I also sley this one from the center out.  I warp this loom back to front.

The reeds on both looms are slightly wider than the weaving width, so accuracy to a single dent is not critical. Quart2r inch accuracy works for me. Sleying center out assures me that I get it centered.  On the Macomber, having to move heddles is not a disaster, but running short or having a large group of leftover heddles on weavings that go the full width is bad news on the Baby Wolf.  That's why I intersperse unused heddles, and also why I have some wire repair heddles just in case.

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 23:10

sandra.eberhar…

I thread and sley from the middle out.  I could never get it figured out right, and it's easier for me.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 02:49

Sara von Tresckow

The easiest way it to sley from the center out.

To begin from one side, you only need to take a piece of string. Measure the width of your warp - take your reed and lay this measured string on the reed starting at one side.  Mark your place. Then use the string to measure the remaining reed, fold in half and begin that distance from the edge.

You can use a measuring tape and inches centimeters or some other unit of length, but believe me, just taking that string gets me a centered (or nearly so) every time. If you are "off" by just an inch or less, ignore it and keep on weaving.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 09:48

ReedGuy

I just look at my sett (dents per inch) for the warp I chose for the project width. Take my cloth tape and find centre of the reed. Divide my project width by 2, measure that distance out from centre. Stick the end of the tape through a dent until I start threading by first group. Remove the cloth tape. Resume denting. Takes all of 60 seconds. Same procedure pretty much when I lay out the warp onto the tie-rod at the warp beam. You'll figure out a procedure and it won't be any harder than taking a breath. ;)

Sat, 02/07/2015 - 01:16

sally orgren

Actually, it doesn't matter if your warp isn't exactly centered in the reed, but what does matter is that your body is centered to the warp when weaving.

On some of my looms, the brake mechanism takes up a bit of space on the interior right side of the loom, so I purposely throw the warp a bit to the left, to avoid that hardware, especially when going nearly full width. And I have to remember to scooch my bum a bit to the left on the bench to match.

I will say it's always in our best interest to develop good habits from the start. We naturally want to center our bodies to the loom when weaving. So if the warp is off, it can be hard to be sure you are grabbing the beater/reed exactly where you need to if the warp is not perfectly centered.

I'll bet your next warp will be perfect!

Mon, 02/16/2015 - 21:09

AudreyO

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I wonder why I didn't get the responses sent to my email?  I thought I'd been forgotten! Frown